JANIS Her Life and Music

Author, Grammy nominee, and college professor Holly George-Warren offers an incisive and compelling portrait of musical legend Janis Joplin. Actress Nina Arianda's narration is effective, though her phrasing is frequently stilted. Her weakest efforts are her unsuccessful attempts to voice interviewees in direct quotes and to re-create Joplin's singing. This well-researched biography of the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company, who was also a solo artist, does not offer much that is revelatory. The late Joplin remains a modern master of the style of black female blues singers such as Bessie Smith, with a peppering of rock swagger added. Arianda presents the chronology of Joplin's life without much flair. Loneliness, suffering, and pain are themes from her childhood onward. W.A.G. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2020]